"Contagious" is a song by American soul group

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American soul group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

. Released as a single from their 2001 album ''

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'', the song was written and produced by R. Kelly, who was also featured on the song, and also features vocals by R&B singer

Chanté Moore Chanté Torrane Moore (born February 17, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, television personality, and author. The first signee with record executive Louis Silas, Jr.'s Silas Records, she rose to prominence with her debu ...

Accolades

In 2002, the song won a Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Group, Band or Duo.

Chart performance

"Contagious" rose to number 19 on the pop singles chart and number 3 on the R&B singles chart and made the Isleys the first group to score a hit in six consecutive decades on ''Billboards Hot 100. The breakthrough helped their 2001 album ''Eternal'' go double platinum.

Music video

The video plays as a mini

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depicting a man who goes home and finds out his woman has been cheating on him with another man. The song is taken to another level during the breakdown of the song, where the two men, Mr. Biggs and Kelly, meet once again after their previous collaboration on Kelly's 1995 single " Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)" (although they also collaborated on

Kelly Price Kelly Cherelle Price (born April 4, 1973) is an American R&B and gospel singer. Beginning her career in 1992, Price originally performed backing vocals for Mariah Carey on multiple songs, including Carey's ''Billboard'' Hot 100-number one sin ...

's 1998 single " Friend of Mine"). In the middle of the second verse, Ron Isley goes down memory lane after saying "The down low happened to me all over again"; additionally, the third verse starts with Mr. Biggs asking R. Kelly "What the hell is going on between the sheets in my own home?", reprising their meeting in the Kelly Price song as well as the title of his own hit " Between the Sheets", and R. Kelly accuses Mr. Biggs (who recalls seeing him before) of mistaken identity. R. Kelly makes a cameo in the 2003 follow-up song "Busted" that is told from the prospective of Mr. Biggs and his current partner. In the video, he is seen returning the woman to Mr. Biggs's home before she is confronted about the affair.

Track listing

#"Contagious" (clean radio edit) – 4:27 #"Contagious" (radio edit) – 4:27 #"Contagious" (LP version) – 5:46 #"Contagious" (instrumental) – 5:46 #"Contagious" (a capella) – 5:41

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

2001 songs 2001 singles The Isley Brothers songs Song recordings produced by R. Kelly Songs written by R. Kelly DreamWorks Records singles Songs about infidelity Chanté Moore songs {{2000s-pop-song-stub